WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed grave concern as the Bush administration released a controversial rule that will jeopardize women’s health and access to birth control. Despite public objections, the final rule expands the ability of health care providers to refuse to provide services and fails to include patient protections.

“The new HHS rule is President Bush’s parting shot at women’s access to basic health care,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “This administration has continually put politics and ideology before science and patients’ health.”

After issuing the proposed rule change in August, the administration received more than 200,000 comments opposing the regulation, including those from the ACLU and its state affiliates, medical associations, women’s health organizations, members of Congress, state governors and attorneys general, religious advocates and the general public. In its comments, the ACLU explained that federal law already requires employers to attempt to accommodate employees’ religious and moral objections to the provision of any health care service.

“At a time when more and more Americans are either uninsured or struggling with the soaring costs of health care, the federal government should be expanding, not hampering, access to important health services,” said Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

The ACLU is looking into all options available to rescind this expansive rule.

FRIENDS: Now More Than Ever

Independent journalism has become the last firewall against government and corporate lies. Yet, with frightening regularity, independent media sources are losing funding, closing down or being blacked out by Google and Facebook. Never before has independent media been more endangered. If you believe in Common Dreams, if you believe in people-powered independent media, please support us now and help us fight—with truths—against the lies that would smother our democracy. Please help keep Common Dreams alive and growing. Thank you. -- Craig Brown, Co-founder

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Further

On this day 50 years ago, a platoon of U.S. soldiers entered the hamlet of My Lai in South Vietnam and, in hours, massacred 504 unarmed women, children and old men. Over 300 of the victims were younger than 12; the G.I.s also raped many of the women and burned all the homes. Today, with torturers and warmongers on the rise, the horrors of My Lai serve as a grim warning. In America's wars of choice, says one vet, we are all "one step away from My Lai."